East West Players Awarded With Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative

East West Players (EWP), the nation's premier Asian American theatre is pleased to announce that Bank of America has recognized the theater's achievements as a 2010 Neighborhood Builder awardee through Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative. Honoring East West Players' commitment to the growth and vitality of the Los Angeles community, East West Players will receive $200,000 in core operating support ($100,000 annually for two years) as well as strategic leadership training for the Producing Artistic Director, Tim Dang, and emerging leaders.

The Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, which annually recognizes organizations, individuals and students who have shown a commitment to improving their communities, continues to help hundreds of the nation's most impactful nonprofits improve their long-term viability and leadership strength, retain and hire new staff, and extend the depth and reach of their services - capabilities that are integral to community revitalization and critical in the current economy when nonprofit funding is down and demand for services is up. Through 2010, Bank of America has committed more than $130 million globally to the initiative. The Neighborhood Excellence Initiative is designed to recognize and encourage nonprofits, individuals and students for their community leadership and service. An awards reception to honor the Los Angeles Market winners in each program was held on November 10, 2010 at the Grammy Museum at LA Live.

"We are honored and proud to receive this grant from Bank of America and this amazing opportunity to build the organization, its leadership and our community as we head toward our 50th Anniversary in 2015. As the nation's largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work AND the longest-running professional theatre of color in the country, this grant will help us raise the visibility of our work," says EWP's Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang. "This grant is coming at the perfect time as we lay the groundwork for the next five years to produce main stage and education programs that address the needs of a rapidly shifting cultural landscape bringing evocative, thought-provoking, and entertaining works to the EWP stage."

"At Bank of America, we strongly believe that a strategic investment in local organizations and leadership development plays a pivotal role in revitalizing our communities," said Janet Lamkin, California State President, Bank of America. "East West Players is a core artistic institution in Los Angeles that is fostering cultural understanding and youth development in our community and beyond. We are proud to honor and help advance the work of this preeminent group through our Neighborhood Excellence Initiative."

Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, last year Bank of America embarked on a new, 10-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2009, making the bank one of the largest corporate cash donors in the United States. Bank of America approaches investing through a national strategy under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Reaffirming a commitment to develop and sustain a culture of service, the bank announced the "Million Hour Challenge," a pledge by the company's associates around the world to donate 1 million volunteer hours by the end of 2010. In 2009, bank associate volunteers contributed more than 800,000 hours to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

For more information, please call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

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